Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has instructed officials concerned to expedite the work of metro rail projects in Bhopal and Indore, while ensuring economic viability of projects.

Chouhan reviewed the progress of Metro Rail Projects at the Mantralaya yesterday and gave instructions to speed up the projects and complete them in a phased manner while making them economically viable, an official of Public Relation Department said Friday.

The Metro Rail projects will be administered and managed by Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Company Limited. The CM will be its chairman while Urban Development minister, mayors of Bhopal and Indore will be its members. The company’s administrative structure will be approved by the State Cabinet, the official said. The review meeting also discussed about the routes to be included in the first phase of the project.

Commissioner Urban Administration and Development and Secretary to the chief minister, Vivek Agrawal, while giving a detailed presentation on status of the projects, informed that a total cost of Bhopal Metro Rail Project will be Rs 22,504.25 crore.

It will have seven routes. Its length will be 95.03 kms. Of this, 84.83 kms will be elevated. The first phase will have two routes, Karond-AIIMS measuring 14.99 kilometers and Bhadbhada-Ratnagiri measuring 12.88 kilometers, the official said.

The cost of first phase will be Rs 6962 crore. Chances of obtaining financial resources from Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Asian Development Bank were also discussed.

The Indore metro rail will have a total length of 104 kilometres. The estimated cost will be Rs 26762.21 Crore. Work on the first phase – Palasia-Airport-Vijayanagar-Bhavarkua-Palasia will start soon. There is no change in the original map of project.

According to PR department official, Chouhan in the meeting said the options for mobilising financial aids through international organisations should be explored. Administrative and management proposals were approved by the Company’s Board of Directors in its meeting. Bhopal Mayor, Alok Sharma, Indore Mayor Malini Gaur, chief secretary Anthony DeSa, principal secretary to chief minister Ashok Varnwal and senior officers of the departments concerned were present on the occasion.